The skilled nominated (provisional) visa (subclass 489) is an Australian state sponsored visa that allows skilled people to live...

Major Changes to 457 VISA

The Government has announced last 18 April 2017 that the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) will be abolished and replaced with the completely new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa in March 2018.

The TSS visa program will be comprised of a Short-Term stream of up to two years and a Medium-Term stream of up to four years and will support businesses in addressing genuine skill shortages in their workforce and will contain a number of safeguards which prioritise Australian workers.

The following introduces the temporary skill shortage visa with new requirements, including but not limited to:

new, more targeted occupation lists which better match and align with skill needs in the Australian labour market

a requirement for visa applicants to have at least two years’ work experience in their skilled occupation

employers must be able to pay the Australian market salary rate and meet the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT)1 which ensures that overseas workers cannot be engaged to undercut Australian workers

a requirement for visa applicants to have at least three years’ work experience

applicants must be under the maximum age requirement of 45 at the time of application

a requirement to pay a contribution to the Skilling Australians Fund, and

Employers must pay the Australian market salary rate and meet the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold.

This new visa is a piece of the Government's noteworthy change bundle to reinforce the uprightness and nature of Australia's temporary and permanent employer sponsored skilled migration programs.

Concessions for regional Australia will continue to be available:

Employers in regional Australia will continue to have access to occupations under the temporary and permanent visas, to reflect their skills needs.

Existing permanent visa concessions for regional Australia, such as waiving the nomination fee and providing age exemptions for certain occupations, will be retained. Consideration will be given to expanding the occupations in regional Australia that are exempt from the age requirement.